US says exerted no pressure on Pakistan for Israel ties

DUBAI: The United States (US) has not put any pressure on Pakistan to establish relations with Israel and sever ties with China, the State Department’s Urdu spokesperson Zed Tarar stated in an exclusive interview.

Speaking with The News, he said Pakistan had never been pressured to establish diplomatic relations with Israel nor demanded severance of ties with China.

“The US does not push its friends and partners to make relations with another country according to its wishes and commends,” Tarar added.

Asked if Pakistan’s inclination towards China forewarns the United States, he said the US had never asked any country to either chose China or the US. He said the United States had a long-standing relationship and partnership with Pakistan and this friendship was not limited to defence cooperation but economic, social and educational cooperation too and it would be further expanded. Elaborating the recent Abrahamic Accord, Zed Tarar said the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain had entered the agreement, and hoped that the US partners in the region would establish diplomatic relations with Israel through the Abrahamic Accord.

The US State Department's Urdu spokesman said the time for peace had arrived and steps should be taken to resolve the conflict in the region. He confidently said that Abrahamic Accord would clear up the misunderstandings among communities and strengthen the region. When enquired about the US relations with Iran and its nuclear deal in the context of new administration, the spokesman said it was too early to say whether the US would change its policy on Iran. “Currently, the US is led by President Donald Trump”, adding that his position on Iran was crystal clear. He said Iran's negative effects on the region were profound.

To a question about the Kashmir dispute, Zed Tarar expressed his hope that the two countries would resolve the issues through dialogue. He reminded that US President Donald Trump had even offered to mediate for resolving the Kashmir issue.

About the Sawab Centre based in Abu Dhabi, a joint venture between the US and the UAE, Tarar said the US, along with its allies, had been working to counter online propaganda by terrorists.

“Keeping a close eye on radical online ideologies is assisting to prevent misinformation and exposing the lies of the terrorist groups,” he said about the global engagement centres for online monitoring.